Breaking News: Five soldiers killed, 40 injured as suicide bomber attacks military convoy in northeast Nigeria
A Boko Haram jihadist rammed an explosives-laden pick-up truck into a military convoy in northeast Nigeria leaving at least five soldiers killed and another 40 injured on Friday.
Two military officers said the bomber targeted the military convoy, which was conducting “clearance operations” between Yobe and Borno states.
“At about 1100 hours (1000 GMT) on Thursday, a suicide bomber believed to be a Boko Haram terrorist riding in a van loaded with explosives rammed into a military convoy at Manguzum village,” one said.
“We lost five soldiers in the incident and more than 40 sustained various degrees of injuries,” added the officer, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak about the incident.
The convoy was heading to the garrison town of Damboa, which is 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, at the time.
Another military source said the troops were heading into Borno when the jihadist crashed his vehicle into a tank.
“The armoured tank was seriously damaged and the operation slowed down,” he said.
The attacker was believed to be loyal to factional leader Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.
Most of the recent attacks are suspected to have been carried out by the Al-Barnawi faction, which is backed by the Islamic State group.
In August 2016, IS declared Al-Barnawi, whose father founded Boko Haram, as the group’s new leader, replacing its long-time figurehead Abubakar Shekau.
Shekau however, rejected Al-Barnawi’s leadership and maintained he was still in charge, leading to a split and infighting.
Al-Barnawi is focused on attacks on the military, while Shekau, on the other hand, focuses mainly on hit-and-run raids on villages and attacks on civilian targets.
There has been a spate of deadly attacks on military targets in recent months, as troops fight to end the eight-year insurgency, which has left at least 20,000 dead in Nigeria alone.
The conflict has also spilled into neighbouring countries Cameroon, Chad and Niger, making more than two million homeless.
Two military officers said the bomber targeted the military convoy, which was conducting “clearance operations” between Yobe and Borno states.
“At about 1100 hours (1000 GMT) on Thursday, a suicide bomber believed to be a Boko Haram terrorist riding in a van loaded with explosives rammed into a military convoy at Manguzum village,” one said.
“We lost five soldiers in the incident and more than 40 sustained various degrees of injuries,” added the officer, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak about the incident.
The convoy was heading to the garrison town of Damboa, which is 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, at the time.
Another military source said the troops were heading into Borno when the jihadist crashed his vehicle into a tank.
“The armoured tank was seriously damaged and the operation slowed down,” he said.
The attacker was believed to be loyal to factional leader Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.
Most of the recent attacks are suspected to have been carried out by the Al-Barnawi faction, which is backed by the Islamic State group.
In August 2016, IS declared Al-Barnawi, whose father founded Boko Haram, as the group’s new leader, replacing its long-time figurehead Abubakar Shekau.
Shekau however, rejected Al-Barnawi’s leadership and maintained he was still in charge, leading to a split and infighting.
Al-Barnawi is focused on attacks on the military, while Shekau, on the other hand, focuses mainly on hit-and-run raids on villages and attacks on civilian targets.
There has been a spate of deadly attacks on military targets in recent months, as troops fight to end the eight-year insurgency, which has left at least 20,000 dead in Nigeria alone.
The conflict has also spilled into neighbouring countries Cameroon, Chad and Niger, making more than two million homeless.
Breaking News: Five soldiers killed, 40 injured as suicide bomber attacks military convoy in northeast Nigeria
![Breaking News: Five soldiers killed, 40 injured as suicide bomber attacks military convoy in northeast Nigeria]()
Reviewed by Debo Olowu
on
April 28, 2017
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